Drying sweaters after hand-washing takes a lot of space.
Today The New York Times published an article, “Dry Cleaning Your Wool Sweaters? Don’t Bother” (https://www NULL.nytimes NULL.com/2019/05/22/smarter-living/wirecutter/dry-cleaning-your-wool-sweaters-dont-bother NULL.html?fallback=0&recId=1LgKAFdT6fekiLzV9LAPc6YEcLm&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=NY&recAlloc=home-geo&geoCountry=US&blockId=home-living-vi&imp_id=846273784&action=click&module=Smarter%20Living&pgtype=Homepage), which has some very good information, but also some information which can cause harm to your garments.
Fundamentally; wool, silk, cashmere, cotton and linen can be cleaned by hand-washing, though there are exceptions.
At Jeeves New York we have come across linen and cotton garments that are treated with a water soluble sizing to give the garment dimensional stability. If this type of garment is hand-washed, contact with water causes the sizing to dissolve and dimensional stability is lost. Simply put, the garment shrinks and this cannot be corrected.
Garment dye may not be stable in water. We have seen clients attempt stain removal and cause colors to bleed using plain water. Rubbing a stain to try to remove it can cause color loss, chafing or damaged to the fibers.
Wool sweaters can be carefully hand-washed at home, but much care must be taken to not cause stretching during the wringing and drying process. All soft wools should be dried flat on perforated racks or clean towels and never hung over a hanger. Hand-washing and drying sweaters at home requires a lot of space, which many apartment dwellers may not have.
In 1987 the New York Times Magazine published an article entitled Coming Clean (https://www NULL.nytimes NULL.com/2019/05/22/smarter-living/wirecutter/dry-cleaning-your-wool-sweaters-dont-bother NULL.html?fallback=0&recId=1LgKAFdT6fekiLzV9LAPc6YEcLm&locked=0&geoContinent=NA&geoRegion=NY&recAlloc=home-geo&geoCountry=US&blockId=home-living-vi&imp_id=846273784&action=click&module=Smarter%20Living&pgtype=Homepage). This feature spoke about a study conducted to test the effects of dry cleaning on wool suit and wool knits;
“Because the fiber is so durable, wool suits and knits hold up particularly well. In a study done last year at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, three types of men’s wool suitings were dry-cleaned repeatedly, by three different processes. ”None showed any change in its essential properties, even after 10 cleanings,” says Dr. Manfred Wentz, chairman of the clothing and textiles department.”
Dry cleaning does not change the texture or apperance of fabric and fibers, more often damage is done by not keeping a garment clean.
If you need advice on how to clean a garment, contact Jeeves New York (https://www NULL.jeevesny NULL.com/contact/). We love to talk about fabric and garment care. Jeeves is always at your service
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